


Hit the Town

by MelfinaLupin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brother/Sister dynamic, Gen, Pidge swears like a sailor., Shiro is a protective older bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8016901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelfinaLupin/pseuds/MelfinaLupin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Paladins could only go so long before they're snapping at one another and threatening bodily harm. They needed a break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hit the Town

Pidge was light years away from home and alone. Great.

The marketplace of Kralo on Abbasi 5 was a thriving metropolis of vendors from all around the universe. It’s not exactly the best place for someone like her to be lost in. The crowd of aliens, both native and foreign alike, elbowed one another in the busy district,barely noticing Pidge as they pushed passed her. She really hated being short sometimes.

 _Let’s stop by Abbasi_ , they said. _It’ll be fun_ , they said.

Past diplomatic missions made Allura well-aware of the city and it’s freakishly tall inhabitants. So for safety reasons, she nominated Hunk to supervise the shortest paladin despite Pidge’s belligerence. It would have been nice if Shiro backed Pidge up on this, but he was firmly on Allura’s side. Jerk.

It was so humiliating. She was short. She got that! No one would let her ever forget it. But, damn it, she could take care of herself thank you very much. She just wished everyone would give her some credit.

It was only a matter of time before Hunk and Pidge got separated, not that she was trying to follow orders or anything. Everyone was eager to check out the food. They were all tired of space goo despite Hunk’s best efforts to spice it up, except for Pidge. This could be her one chance to get her hands on new tech for a while. She was chomping at the bit for a Rover replacement.

She was buzzing with excitement, and had been distracted by a booth selling various pieces of tech. Scrapes really, obviously salvaged from various ships. I little disappointed, she wandered back to Hunk. But he was gone.

The old Pidge would’ve had a massive panic attack, but new Pidge wondered what was the worst thing that could happen to her?

She hadn’t left the ship completely defenseless. Her handheld had the location of the ship stored on its harddrive and her bayard was in her backpack. Plus it wasn’t like Uncle Coran would let the castle-ship fly off without counting heads.  

Pidge’s mouth curled into a determined grin. Now she could go wherever she pleased, and would show Allura, and everyone else for that matter, that she didn’t need a stupid guardian.

The princess had allotted them a couple of hours of freedom. It was as if the princess had sensed her paladins’ restlessness after days and days of training. They could only go so long before they were snapping at one another and threatening bodily harm. They needed a break like fish need water. Human stamina paled in comparison to the Alteans’. A couple hours away from the castle-ship was a badly needed vacation before they were back saving the universe.  

Kralo was far more advanced than any city on Earth and any place she ever encountered out in space. It was like if Toyko and New York had a baby and named it Kralo.

It was just so freaking cool!

The polished stands and shiny boutiques lining the marble-smooth street beneath the latticed dome of iridescent glass was impressive. The done spread for miles in all directions so that the entire city was enclosed. Various script and images periodically scrolled across the glass Probably just news like the weather and advertisements for products promoted by pretty, big-eyed liens.

Finding what she needed was going to get a piece of cake! She felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. Allura supplied them with a little money. Pidge wound her way the tech sector. It was less crowded here. Only pilots and greasy mechanics browsed the tables. They were travel worn and grim, shopping only out of necessity rather than pleasure.

Still it was surreal seeing so many aliens. Just months ago she was on Earth eavesdropping on alien chatter with her home-made radio.

“You looking for something in particular? We got a brand new shipment of pieces early this morning.”

“Great,” Pidge replied. “I’m looking for parts to make an aerial robot. What’s the smallest rotary engine you got?

The vendor slowly stroked his chin. He wasn’t a local Abbasian. He was a bulky, reptilian humanoid with four arms crossed over his broad chest, and a row of short spikes dividing his skull. The way he studied her seriously creeped her out.

“I’ll have to check,” he finally said. “You from around here?”

“You could say that.” She got the feeling she ought to leave even if he had the parts she needed. This guy was way too weird. She casually looked to the right and then to the left, seeking the easiest escape route just in case.

“You’re a human, ain’t ya? We don’t get a lot of your kind in these parts.” A purple tongue slipped from his mouth to swipe across his jowls. Her hands went clammy. She really wished she hadn’t left Hunk now.

“Yeah, probably not.”

“If you're looking for some quick mazuma, I can take you someplace. You humans only need one eye, yeah? It’s a delicacy here. Very valuable. We can split the profits.”

Pidge’s mouth went dry. “I need both actually.”

“What about a kidney? It’ll be quick. Almost painless. Trugronians’ll pay a lot for one of those. You’d earn enough to buy a brand new drone. None of that secondhand shit.”

The vendor was getting far to excited about selling her body pieces. She took a step back, about to book it, but she bumped into something hard. The wind was knocked out of her. For moment she was disorientated.

“What the hell?”

 Webbed hands clamped around her arms, long claws digging in hard. Her head snapped up. It was another reptilian alien only this one was missing an eye and wore several very nasty scars across his face.

 Red flags went up couldn’t go up any higher. Warning sounds couldn’t blare any louder.

 She yanked herself away but her assailant’s grip did let up. Not good. So, so not good. There was no way she could get her bayard now.

 “Let me go, you jerk!”

 “We’ll let you go,” the vendor commented blithely. “After we’re done with you.”

 No way in hell, mister!

 Pidge bared her teeth and rammed the heel of her boot into the alien’s shin as hard she she could. She had a brother. She fought the Galra. She knew had to fight dirty.

 Her attack didn’t faze him, but Pidge wasn’t discouraged. If she thought it was an easy target, they had another thing coming. “Let!” _Kick._ “Me.” _Kick._ “Go!” _Kick. Kick. Kick._ “ _Dickwad_!”

 A nasty sneer split the vendor’s face. His white sharp fangs gleamed. Ok, that was a little intimidating. “Ooooh,” he cooed. “We’ve got a feisty one! That’s good. Keeping going, girl. It’s good for the blood.”

 Rage swelled up in her chest. Ever since leaving Earth, her flight or fight response leaned heavily towards fight. She fought back harder, making as much noise as she could to attract attention. They had police in Kralo, right? Unfortunately the few pilots nearest to her only shot them a frightened look before splitting. Cowards!

 “Enough’s enough, girl,” her capture grunted. She could tell he was getting tired of being her punching bag.

 Pidge didn’t like the yelp she made when he hauled her down an alleyway. The heels of her boots squeaked against the smooth stone ground. “Hey, wait! Stop!” She glared at the leering vendor who trailed behind them and yelled, “You’ll be sorry, asshole!”

 “Stop!”

The booming command stopped the kidnapper dead in his tracks. The grip on her arms loosened automatically. So someone had the balls to help her. About time! Of course it was Shiro.He always seemed to pop up whenever she needed him.

Relief overwhelmed her. The fight bled out of her body instantly, leaving her weak. Things had been about to get sticky.

Shiro stood at the end of the alley, his broad-shoulders nearly touching the sides. There was a chilly look in his eyes made Pidge a little uneasy, especially when she saw his robotic hand. It was glowing. He was ready for a fight.

“Let her go.” He didn’t need to yell to be threatening. The aliens were practically shaking in their boots as Shiro stared them down.

“You better listen to him,”  Pidge taunted smugly. She was getting bad feeling about this. “You see that arm? That’s top quality Galra tech. You know of the Galra, right?”

Shiro came closer, slow and steady like a dog sizing up its opponent . This wasn’t good. This wasn’t even remotely good. She had seen that face before. He wasn’t planning on letting them off with just a warning if she didn’t do something. “He’s still breaking it in,” she rambled, trying to sound as cocky as Lance, “so he might really, _really_ hurt you if you don’t let me go.”

Hurt was putting it lightly, but her warning did the trick. The aliens backed away, jumbled apologies rolling off their tongues. Pidge bolted and ducked behind Shiro’s broad back.

"No harm, no foul, man,” the vendor chuckled nervously, his hands raised in front of him. “We didn’t know she belonged to you.”

Pidge seethed. Excuse me, asshole?

“Your friend there is all right.”

“All right by butt,” she scoffed. “Let’s get out of here, Shiro. They’re just a bunch of thugs.”

He acted like he didn’t hear her. He continued to glare at them, his jaw clenched tight, like he was deciding which one to attack first: the skeevy ringleader or the one that dared to touch her. Pidge peeked out behind him.

“You morons really should scram. He’s not messing around.”

They didn’t need any further prompted. They flew down the alley like their tails were on fire.

“Well, that was fun,” Pidge said, forcing to sound amused, like she wasn’t close to being kidnapped and he wasn’t about to beat the two aliens senselessly. She was fine. No harm done. No need to worry.

“That could have been bad, Pidge. Where’s Hunk?” He spoke quietly but the tone was far from calm. His anger hadn’t let up.

Humiliation bubbled up inside her. She looked down at her feet and muttered how they’d gotten separated. Nothing much made Shiro lose his cool. But she knew he was livid even if he didn’t yell at her. She didn’t like it one bit. She’d fucked up big time, and now she was going to pay for it.

How pathetic would she be if she cried right now?

“It’s too dangerous to be by yourself, Pidge,” he snapped. “You have no idea where we are or what these aliens are capable of.”

Her pride stung from the verbal beating. Why was he treating her like some child? Had he forgotten how she saved his ass from Sendak like everyone else had? She was starting to loose her cool too. She glared at him over the top of her glasses. “It’s not that big deal, Shiro.”

“What if something happened to you?”

"Like I would’ve let it!” She spun around on her heels and skulked away, her mood dark. She didn’t want to look at him anymore. She just wanted to return to the castle-ship and take her anger out on the stupid robot in the training room. She was tired of people constantly undermining her because she was small. The only people who never, ever did was her family. They respected her.

“Pidge, wait!”

She spun around, full spite. She was just so fed up by everyone’s bullshit. “What?”

Shiro’s expression was different now. The softer, calmer look that was at odds with his strong jawline and his his beefy physique. This was the Shiro she knew and trusted. “I’m sorry,” he started. “I was just...worried, ok? Friends need to look after each other.”

It was really hard to stay mad at Shiro when he smiled like that. It made him look years younger. She chewed the inside of her mouth, not quite ready to give up her anger just yet, but she had to admit it was nice knowing someone had her back.

“I could have handled them myself,” she insisted.

His smile widened. “I never thought you couldn’t.”

“I was just waiting for the right time to strike.”

“Of course.” He nodded obediently. “I just wanted an opportunity to show of this top-quality Galra tech.”

Pidge snorted inelegantly when Shiro made of show of flexing his metal arm to kiss his bicep. “You sure scared the crap out of them!”

“Good. How about we get out of here?”

“Sounds like a plan.” She was glad to leave, really glad, and step back out into the sunlight.

She hadn’t found what she was looking for but she let it slide. She didn’t feel like being in that part of town anymore. They still had a couple of hours to spare so they followed their noses to the food district. She was more hungry than she realized.

All around them bustled aliens in search of a quick midday meal. The smell of foreign spices itched her nose. It wasn’t a bad smell, just different.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.” Her stomach growled pitifully. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

They stopped at the nearest vendor. Some kind of meat roasted over an open firepit. Whatever it was smelled delicious. She just hoped it was good. She let Shiro do the ordering. He worked his way through the aliens like a champ. Shiro came back after a while, presenting her a stick of meat. It looked like a giant kabob. She sniffled it carefully before realizing Shiro was already halfway done with his. Since he wasn’t puking his guts up, she figured it was probably safe to eat.

Well, here goes nothing. “It takes like chicken.”

“You said that about the space goo.”

“Everything takes like chicken, Shiro. There’s actually been studies on how exotic meat taste like good al’ Foghorn Leghorn.”

An eyebrow arched. “Is that what you stay up reading-culinary research?”

“Among other things.”

They moved on, finishing their meal and licking the spicy sauce off their fingers as they went.

“Hey, that looks like a popular one, too” Shiro said, pointing to the vendor with the largest crowd. The two paladins squeezed their way through the crowd, Shiro first to part the sea for her. They were more curious than hungry. Row after row of tiny cubes chilled on the ice like little soldiers. It was hard to tell what it was at first. Shiro shrugged and reached into the pack at his side for a couple of coins. Of course he’d still be hungry.

“Looks harmless enough.”

Pidge wasn’t so sure. The cubes came in all kinds of colors. What kind of strange flavor would she stumble upon in Abbasi?

Shiro got a handful, and retreated to the middle of the square by the large fountain. She sat on the age and carefully watched him bite into one of the bars, waiting for his reaction, before she tried her own. He made a surprised hum, his eyebrows shooting up behind the white tuft of hair. Great, he was going to puke. No wait, he was excited.

“Here, Pidge, try it!”

Pidge took the offered bar. Unlike Lance or Matt, he wouldn’t dare trick her. It was a little sticky, like fudge and the purple coloring was a little off putting too, but she trusted Shiro and bit down into the morsel.

Not even a full nanosecond passed before the familiar taste his her tastebuds. “Holy crow, it’s peanut butter!”

She wasn’t even sorry she devoured the entire thing. Shiro laughed and reached into his pack for more money, “Want to get some more?”

“Yeah!” She practically shoved her money at Shiro. “Buy them all.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Foghorn Leghorn is the rooster that pops up in the Looney Tunes.


End file.
